Site Mobile Navigation

Keyshawn Johnson

Johnson, a wide receiver for the New York Jets, is the author of ''Just Give Me the Damn Ball!''

Q: Your book describes Jets quarterback Neil O'Donnell as ''a puppet'' and your teammate Wayne Chrebet as ''an old fool.'' How did that play in the locker room?

A: My teammates knew exactly how I felt. Now, would I have said this if we'd been 15-1 instead of 1-15? Of course not. It wouldn't have been the same team. But something has to be said when you're 1-15.

Q: But shouldn't trash talk be directed at opposing players?

A: I talk a lot to the players trying to defense me. ''Don't be afraid of my height,'' I'll tell them. ''I'm not very fast because I'm too big.'' When I talk to them, it makes me concentrate: I've got to catch the ball or I look bad. So when I'm running downfield I'm yelling at the guy: ''Six points! Six points! I got it!'' And then they're dead.

Correction: September 21, 1997, Sunday Because of an editing error, an article on Aug. 31 about the New York Jets receiver Keyshawn Johnson quoted incorrectly from his book, ''Just Give Me the Damn Ball!'' He called the Jets receiver Wayne Chrebet a ''mascot''; it was Ron Erhardt, a Jets coach, whom he called ''an old fool.''